With mass production of mobile phone related components and systems, it has become economically feasible to explore other uses of mobile phone technology beyond its well-known typical use, that is, for person to person conversations and Internet browsing. In addition, text messaging is also a popular use of mobile phones. Text messaging is universally available in that text messaging services are offered by virtually all commercial mobile service providers. Text messaging is also referred to as Short Message Service (SMS). Standards related to SMS are defined by Global System for Mobile Communications (GSM) series of standards. These standards limit the message size to 160 characters. The standards also allow sending larger messages using multipart sub-messages each of them are limited to 160 characters.
In recent years, automobiles and many different types of machines are being equipped with sophisticated electronics controls. Many newer automobiles include one or more microcontrollers, variety of electrical and electronic sensors and control software that control and monitor internal operations of these automobiles. In addition, these electronics systems also collect a variety of information through sensors for diagnostic purposes. Some informational data is also collected. For example, temperatures at different locations inside the engine compartment and/or cabin are collected by automobile control systems. Error conditions and occurrence of faults are another set of information that is actively collected by automobile or machine control systems. Typically, a special data reader is connected to a special interface (e.g., On Board Diagnostic or OBD) provided inside an automobile to retrieve at least some of the collected data from an automobile control system.